Karnataka leadership row: Siddaramaiah, Shivakumar face-off over promised ‘word’

The tug-of-war between Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and his deputy D K Shivakumar over the CM post turned into a war of words on Thursday as the two faced off over keeping up a promise.

Amid intensifying power tussle, Shivakumar insisted that “word power is world power,” prompting a witty repartee from Siddaramaiah who said, “A word is not power unless it betters the world for the people.”

While Siddaramaiah is asserting that he would complete five years term, Shivakumar wants to replace him to hold the coveted post as the Congress government completed half of its five years term on November 20.

“The mandate given by the people of Karnataka is not a moment, but a responsibility that lasts five full years,” the Chief Minister made it clear in a post on ‘X’.

Shivakumar on Thursday wrote on social media, “keeping one’s word is the greatest strength in the world! Word power is world power.”

In the same post, he added, “The biggest force in the world was to keep one’s word.”

“Be a judge, president or anyone else including myself, everyone has to walk the talk. Word power is world power,” Shivakumar added.

The cryptic post is seen as his reminder to the Congress and Siddaramaiah about a rumoured power-sharing agreement between the two in 2023 when both vied for the CM’s chair after the party swept the state polls.

In his post explaining how he “bettered the world”, Siddaramaiah spoke about the five guarantee schemes—Shakti, Gruha Lakshmi, Yuva Nidhi, Anna Bhagya and Gruha Jyoti.

These are schemes in various sectors including providing free electricity, cash dole to women heads and free bus rides for women.

Siddaramaiah said that in his first term from 2013 to 2018, 157 of 165 promises were fulfilled with over 95 per cent delivery.

In the current term, over 243 assurances out of 593 are already completed, and “every remaining promise will be fulfilled with commitment, credibility, and care”, he added.

“The mandate given by the people of Karnataka is not a moment, but a responsibility that lasts five full years. The Congress party, including me, is walking the talk for our people with compassion, consistency, and courage. Our word to Karnataka is not a slogan, it means the world to us,” the Chief Minister said.

There was stiff competition between Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar for the chief minister’s post after the declaration of Assembly election results on 20 May 2023, and the Congress had managed to convince the latter and made him the Deputy CM.

There were some reports at the time that a compromise had been reached based on a “rotational chief minister formula,” according to which Shivakumar will become CM after 2.5 years, but they have not been officially confirmed by the party.

However, Siddaramaiah rejected these reports and asserted that he will be the chief minister for five years.

MLAs and ministers loyal to Shivakumar have been going to Delhi to impress upon the party high command to make their leader Chief Minister “as agreed upon”, Congress sources said.